I don’t need to tell you it’s the Friday before Labor Day. Is there a pair of months that screeches through a sharper turn than August into September? Hard to beat Dec. 31 into Jan. 1, but that’s a timestamp rather than this weekend’s hard pivot like this one that we feel in our bones. It’s still August for two more days so let’s milk this month like it’s the all-you-can-drink stand at the State Fair (Still going through Monday).

I myself have not attended the fair due to acquiring COVID in Chicago. You know who else hasn’t attended the fair? Gov. Tim Walz. Even under his rebranded persona of Coach Walz he’s not alighted in Falcon Heights. If he doesn’t go to the State Fair is he still legally Minnesota’s governor?

Walz has not met with Minnesota media since Aug. 1 when he talked about a new law for straw purchasers of guns. I’ve been encouraged by an outside agitator to commence a ticker. We’re at 29 days without a Walz press avail in Minnesota. We also didn’t get to talk to him in Chicago or even get close to him beyond his appearance at breakfast on the final day.

So we get to see him on TV and there he was on CNN with Vice President Kamala Harris for their first team interview. He did a lot of No. 2 type stuff, ya know, nodding, smiling and gazing approvingly. He was also pressed on past statements about his military service, guns and IVF. Star Tribune colleague Elliott Hughes wrote about it whilst covering another storm and power outage impacting the fair and others.

Walz’s answers weren’t revelatory. He says he owns his mistakes. He’s proud of his military service and won’t disparage others. He wears his emotions on his sleeve. CNN also played the 2018 clip when Walz talked about weapons of war, which sounded like a crime against syntax. On a related note, now Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is facing scrutiny over a past claim about a Bronze Star.

The CNN talking heads gave the Harris-Walz interview general thumbs up and noted that VP candidates often stumble at the start as they’re less experienced than their running mates. (Ohio Sen. JD Vance had a bumpy first couple of weeks as Trump’s ticketmate.) The national spotlight brings an entirely new level of scrutiny — in case that wasn’t yet apparent.

TRIFECTA DEFENSE: Spend some time with this doozy where a passel of colleagues led by Briana Bierschbach, Josie Albertson-Grove and Tom Nehil explains the races that will determine control of the Legislature in the 2024 election. Every Minnesota House seat is on the ballot, but only a few are truly in play and we break it down for you. Will Republicans be able to bust up the trifecta? Make your predictions now.

ABORTION & IVF: Former President Donald Trump said Thursday he’ll likely vote against the six-week abortion ban on the ballot in his state of residence, Florida. He also said the government or insurance will be required to pay for IVF treatments if he’s re-elected.

Trump late Thursday also asked the federal court to take over his election interference/hush money case in another attempt to delay sentencing. Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery continues to be a plot point in the presidential race. A defense official says he was warned against taking photographs but did so anyway.

Meanwhile, the Democrats announced a 50-stop Reproductive Freedom Bus Tour in battleground states, beginning Tuesday in Palm Beach, where Trump lives now. Leading the way will be Minnesota’s own U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar. The Democrats noted in their press release that Trump brags about being the one who got Roe v. Wade overturned.

Interesting that Klobuchar commences her pivot to the fall in Florida with the bus when she’s on the ballot in Minnesota. This suggests the three-term senator isn’t terribly worried about GOP opponent Royce White. Also, she’s being a team player, collecting brownie points. Don’t think that’s going unnoticed.

BALLOT BOX: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will remain on the ballot in Minnesota, Bierschbach reports. For minor party candidates who successfully petition for ballot access, there is no mechanism for withdrawal other than a petition to the courts, which Kennedy hasn’t done here. In another sign of something — Kennedy’s supporting Trump and trying to get his name removed in 10 key swing states. Minnesota, which hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate in more than 50 years, isn’t among them.

Friendly reminder that former President Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday could be Oct. 1, a prospect that once seemed impossible.

BELTWAY-MIDWAY: Our D.C. correspondent Sydney Kashiwagi talked to fairgoers and a swath of candidates over the past week. She reports on the hot-selling DFL merch, “Never Walz” and the push by other candidates for name recognition. Minnesota Republican Party Executive Director Anna Mathews said she’s selling lots of Trump shirts and has seen a lot of young voters registering and requesting absentee ballots. “A lot of people are just embarrassed that Tim Walz is on the ticket,” Mathews said. “They don’t want him to be the representation of Minnesota.”

WHERE’S WALZ:

Not here. He’s been down in Georgia with Harris then Thursday he was grabbing a mint chocolate chip shake at Cook Out, a southern chain, with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. It’s all over Twitter if you want to see the two men eating ice cream. (Walz later told attendees at a Raleigh fund-raiser that he “ate the whole damn thing.”)

The two also stopped at a basement campaign officer where some 30 staffers were phone-banking for candidates. Walz brought cookies with icing that read, “Yes She Can.”

At one point, Walz asked a phone banker if she wanted him to sub in for her, took her phone and had a brief conversation with the voter on the other end. “You’re kind, thank you very much,” he told the person as the call ended.

Walz concluded his afternoon in a small ballroom of a Marriott for about 100 people. He described politics as a means to an end. “The end is a fair, better society where all people can thrive,” he said. He contrasted that with Republicans, saying, “there is nothing patriotic about them continuing to root for failure.”

Walz bragged. “If you lose an election, you shake hands and congratulate the person who won,” he said. “That’s easy for me to say — I have not lost one before. And I want to keep it that way!”

READING LIST

Do you think Harris is a DEI candidate? Laura Yuen shares her thoughts on what that means. Do you disagree with Yuen? (I’m really asking because I want to see who’s read this far. Hello? Anybody there? DM me at rochelle.olson@startribune.com)
The potent Star Tribune trio of Tony Lonetree, Mara Klecker and Jeff Hargarten break down what those school tests scores mean.
Colleague Louis Krauss looks into what happened with Walz’s Sega Dreamcast. Yes, he tracked down a game the governor once owned. I’m no gamer (except for a maniacal fixation on Wordle, Spelling Bee & Connections) but it’s a charming yarn. Krauss includes Charlie Kirk’s assessment that Walz’s addiction to the game was sad and weird.
I’d venture that a fair number of you know either Russ Nelson or Neal St. Anthony. They’re together again in the Star Tribune with Nelson talking about how he’s trying to help others in his retirement.
Sunny and comfortable through the weekend, Paul Douglas informs. Get on out there and enjoy.
“September approaching ... I feel I owe myself a brief respite of leisure and no rushing around. I can’t face the dead reality. I want rainy days, lanterns and a hundred moons twining in dark leaves, music spilling out and echoing yet inside my head.” (Sylvia Plath in a letter to Aurelia Plath.)